Stop doing this with your startup!

Hello guys,Hope you had great weekends and very productive week. I have launched a list of apps with my team, all of them are with high code quality, custom, and unique design. But… Just a few of startups reached 10k downloads in the first month. So, I started to analyze what was done wrong. So, here is a list of mistakes I could figure out from real samples and am pleased to share with you.

Mistake #1The worst thing you can do with your startup is launching FIRST VERSION without marketing research and idea testing. More details you can find in our previous article What is MVP and why it is important? Your startup should be your business, otherwise, it is just a wasting of efforts.

Tell me 1 thing, are you really sure your product will have success on the market? Did you check your idea on your Targeting Audience? If no, your project is in DANGER ZONE. You can launch an app, lose 2-6 months and $20k-$100k, and find out that your product has no sense for the market and no one is interested in it.

Do you know what specialist will say when you contact them? I do:- you need to do remarketing;- you need to spend more money on ads;- we need to make a research;etc. The answer is based on level of competence and skill level.

They are partially right, I do still believe that the idea is the main. But this idea would stay the main only with proper marketing and development. Otherwise, you will be one of those 99.7% startups that couldn’t...

So, keep your idea all way long but be flexible based on your analytical data since starting your development.

Mistake #2Lack of research, analytics and pre-launch strategy.I was already writing about this here.

Mistake #3You probably saw a lot of articles about how to get million subscribers on Instagram/Snapchat etc, did you? If yes, FORGET about it! I do agree with such articles but they are missing one main point: Targeting Audience. There is no matter how many grannies subscribed to your account if you are proposing Augmented Reality Game. Sure, maybe word of mouth will work but it is more exception than a rule.

You probably thought: “this guy is just talking about general things, it is so basic”. Yes, you are right, but why are you doing all these shit? You won’t have possibility to control your business and your income if you are selling racing games to 16-25 years old girls. Sure, you would need more invests into ads, remarketing, etc, but you would need x3 more efforts this time. Any product/service should be launched just with main feature and be targeting on this. When you see that your audience needs something else, add this. That’s it! Step-by-step. I don’t understand why a lot of “specialists” are talking about the same points but doing mistakes they are saying don’t do?.. i.e. I know a lot of companies that have really nice BUT particular skills. Let’s say they have great Python and HTML/CSS developers. Since they hired iOS and/or Android developer(s) they are writing on main page: “We are doing everything!”. C’mon guys! The seal can’t climb on the tree. Since you wrote this you removed your powerful sides, your uniqueness. You became a company that is doing something technical but with different rate per hour.

I don’t say, you need to stop growing. There are a lot of different strategies but stay wise and use Lean approaches everywhere you can.

Mistake #4Hiring “just do guys”. As I mentioned above there are a lot of agencies that are doing everything and they really don’t care about their works. All their work looks like “just give me your money”. When you put any particular question, you receive the answer: “Yes, sure. We can do it. We can do everything, we are experts”.

Such “team” can lead you to project failure. As they are not interested in project success they are interested just in your investment. I know just a few outsource companies that are different to described sample. So be careful with this if you are going to outsource your project - skill list is not the main it is just a requirement.

Mistake #5“Being regular, not bold”. Your customers (users) should understand that behind the app is a real person. The app should be targeted on loyalty system. Do everything to keep users use the app again and again. It can be anything:- reward system for multi-entrance;- reward for friend invitations;- questionnaires on Facebook or Twitter;- blog;

In other words, anything that provides a value to your users. Think like user. Put a simple question to yourself: “Why they should choose my app?”, “Why my app is better than...?” and show this answers everywhere on Facebook, Twitter, website, Instagram, Snapchat etc._________________________

I do believe you lighted up some useful points for your startup and am sure you will find your own, the right way. Do you want to receive more useful staff for your startup? Subscribe to our news.